(CNN) - Days after the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, demands from the public and lawmakers for tougher gun control legislation were met by President Barack Obama's call for a re-examination of the country's gun laws.

Obama announced Wednesday that Vice President Joe Biden will lead an administration effort to develop recommendations no later than January for preventing another mass shooting.

(CNN) - The partisan gridlock in Washington came to a halt Thursday morning as members of both parties gathered to bid farewell to the late Sen. Daniel Inouye, the second longest serving senator in U.S. history.

"Dan was a vibrant and vital presence in the Senate, and in death he'll remain a legend," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said at a ceremony held in the Capitol Rotunda.FULL POST

(CNN) - Newark Mayor Cory Booker will not challenge New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in next year's gubernatorial race and will instead explore a run for U.S. Senate, Booker announced Thursday.

Booker will run to replace fellow Democrat Sen. Frank Lautenberg when his term is up in 2014. Lautenberg, who will turn 89 in January, is the oldest currently serving senator and has not indicated if he will run for reelection.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - The year 2012 was supposed to herald Hillary Clinton's swan song, a golden departure amid speculation that she might consider another run at the presidency in 2016.

Instead, the outgoing Secretary of State has found herself and her agency at the center of a scathing report about bloody attacks on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, which left four Americans dead, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

(CNN) - The remains of Sen. Daniel Inouye from Hawaii arrived in Washington Thursday to lie in state in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol. Vice President Joe Biden and congressional leaders delivered remarks at the arrival ceremony.

Inouye was awarded the Medal of Honor for actions during World War II and represented Hawaii in the Senate for five decades. The Democratic senator died Monday at the age of 88 after being hospitalized for "respiratory complications."

He won his ninth consecutive term in 2010 and was the second-longest-serving member of the Senate in its history, trailing only Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia. Inouye was a senator for all but three of Hawaii's 53 years as a state and had served as its first House member before that.

(CNN) - Outgoing Republican Sen. Scott Brown may not be gone from Capitol Hill for long, according to a new poll of Massachusetts voters.

With Democratic Sen. John Kerry considered President Barack Obama's top choice to succeed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and with Kerry expected to sail smoothly through confirmation by his Senate peers, the Bay State will most likely hold a special election in late spring or early summer to fill the final year and a half of Kerry's term.FULL POST

(CNN) - Sarah Palin, who's been listed twice as one of Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People," is taking issue with the publication's decision to name President Barack Obama as its "Person of the Year."

Poking fun at herself, the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee said the magazine lacks a certain degree of relevancy.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - Just over half the public says that the GOP should give up more than the Democrats in any bipartisan solution to the country's problems, according to a new national survey.

And a CNN/ORC International poll also indicates that a slight majority of Americans sees the Republican party's policies and views as too extreme, a first for the GOP, and fewer than a third say they trust congressional Republicans more than President Barack Obama to deal with the major issues facing the nation.FULL POST